I begin with a sad reflection. Thanks to computers and sampling it is very easy today to do something that looks like music, sounds like music, whether it is treated as music – but it’s not music. The network has plenty of presets, patterns, tips like: ‘how to make bass for d’n'b’. The track is made practically by itself and the artist is reduced to one of the computer peripherals – such impersonal plugin, which implements one of the simpler sub-operations across the ‘production’ of music or in short – laying bricks under the terms of the prevailing trend. It ends so that you have to search for music by seeking tons of no-music, like-music… I do not know how to call it, in any case the twins similar to each other ‘copies without the original’, postmodern dump containing traces of man and his personality.

What does Zero One or Kevin Dooley looks like music, sounds like music, is treated like music – and apparently it IS music. And the fourth album in turn is the quintessence of music. At first glance of the ear like nothing – such a little minimalistic playing. But when listening to the psychill set by the equipment with the ‘shuffle’ option, each successive jump out of a track of Zero One electrifies more. There is personality this such-music. And this is the most delicious type of personality – independent, creative, searching and consistent. I would give a couple of nice adjectives, but it would become boring.

The first track from the album includes everything what is the best in such-music of Zero One: idea, drama, music, high culture and a lot of unconstrained humor. MALFUNCTION is a very perverse title, as this gem. Having fun with sounds on a very high level. Any unnatural kind of ‘spiritual’ massages, no stench of incense, which is often (too often) in psychill. We are dealing with a bare ‘inner child’ of Dooley, amused, carefree, throwing ideas. How good it is to have contact with a living person.

Following tracks from the album are little less lively, more reflective, it would seem that they are ascetic, but when listening closely, a lot happens in them, with zero content of schema. Climate from MALFUNCTION is getting back in TWILIGHT. Enhances the magic that makes the combination of several seemingly banal sounds which come something very fresh. FLASHBACK, according to the name brings to mind the jazz experiments of the 90s. Disturbing combination of jazz, blues and glitch plays with sound. Delicious, well, well, well… a bomb for me.

The whole album is very good to listen. It is worth mentioning FUTURE – the penultimate in the list. This is a kind of classic psychill, but it works on the consciousness in a different manner. What in other type of tracks is the background, ambient, here in a strange way comes to the fore and becomes the substance, content, provokes to merge with those sounds. The childish, toy main theme creates a surreal atmosphere, which is difficult to recover – if anyone ever wants to shake off.

And the last track, if the extension of the previous. Zero unary minimalism of sounds causes that between them there is a psychedelic emptiness, in which I hear different images and see different sounds. I’m OK. And You?

Martin Nonstatic: Granite

In October 2014 I travelled to Northern Austria to be deeply in touch with nature and explore new creative inspirations for my music. I observed, touched and photographed solid granite rocks, covered in green gentle moss. Both sharing opposed characters and qualities in millions of different shapes, sizes and colours.